In Massachusetts, individuals who did not belong to the established Puritan Church faced several restrictions, including limitations on voting and holding public office, as these rights were often reserved for church members. Nonconformists also faced social and economic discrimination, such as being barred from certain professions and being subjected to fines for not attending mandatory church services. Additionally, religious dissenters often faced persecution, which contributed to a climate of intolerance for those outside the established church.
In Massachusetts, the established church was the Puritan Church, and restrictions were placed on those who did not belong to it. Non-Puritans, including Quakers, Baptists, and others, faced penalties such as fines, imprisonment, and exclusion from voting and public office. Additionally, laws were enacted to suppress dissent and maintain the religious uniformity that the Puritan leadership sought to uphold, severely limiting the rights and freedoms of non-conformists.
Calvanists
Nine out of the 13 colonies had an established church. These include New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.
Voting was limited to the inhabitants that were full in church communions which left the limitations to a minority of male inhabitants.
An established church is a self governing/autonomous and self propagating church.
In 1620 the Purtians established Plymouth colony and within that colony it was very important, but there were no other colonies in Massachusetts in 1620.
Both Maryland and Massachusetts were established as a place for a specific religious group that opposed the Anglican church. Massachusetts was for Puritans and Maryland was for Catholics.
First Baptist Church in Newton - Massachusetts - was created in 1780.
The Pilgrims from the Church of New England settled in Plymouth Colony in what is now Massachusetts in 1620. They established the colony after fleeing religious persecution in England and seeking religious freedom.
The Anglican Church was the "established" Church of England, established by Parliment.
The church limited the growth of knowledge through censorship, suppression of scientific theories that conflicted with religious doctrine, and discouraging free inquiry that challenged established beliefs. This hindered the development of new ideas and inhibited the progress of scientific discovery during the Middle Ages and beyond.
Connecticut was founded by Thomas Hooker and other Protestants who left Massachusetts because the right to vote there was limited to people who were accepted into the Church. Hooker disagreed with this and other beliefs of the Massachusetts Puritans and left to form Connecticut.